The Region - News from March 31, 1987

ABC’s “20/20” program did not defame a Los Angeles businessman once referred to as “the king of distressed properties” in a recent news segment, a Los Angeles federal court jury decided. The panel found that a Sept. 20, 1979, episode examining the real estate practices of William D. Little was not false, nor did reporters and cameramen invade his privacy when they set up cameras on his property in an attempt to interview him. Little, who had sought $15 million in damages, claimed the segment falsely branded him a criminal and implied he was under investigation for illegal real estate practices. The episode quoted victims who said Little led them to believe he was lending them money to stave off foreclosure, then forced them out their homes.